


Someone's Laughing, Lord, Kumbaya

by Marks



Category: Greek
Genre: Gen, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-13
Updated: 2010-02-13
Packaged: 2017-10-07 05:49:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marks/pseuds/Marks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cappie wants Evan to do the unexpected. The results are, well, unexpected. Friendship fic, set at Camp Kichiwawa!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someone's Laughing, Lord, Kumbaya

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this didn't get more shippy, but I really wanted to write your idea for some backstory on Evan and Cappie!

**Now**

Evan stared down at everyone and felt stupid. All of the Kichiwawa guys looked like they were having a good time with the girls from the camp across the lake, and instead of being down there with them, he was stuck up on a cramped scaffolding and clutching a bucket of corn syrup.

Stupid. He didn't know how he let himself get talked into this.

No, actually, he totally did, and that was part of the reason he felt so damned stupid. This was all Cappie's fault

+

**Two Days Earlier**

One of Evan's bunkmates, Todd, came up and gave him a friendly shoulder grab.  
"Hey, Chambers. You got a date for the mixer with Camp Sacajawea?"

Evan grinned and nodded. "Yeah, Alicia. Her dad's company works with my dad's sometimes, so we set everything up before we left for camp." He shrugged. "You know how it is."

"Romantic," someone called from the bunks. Evan rolled his eyes, and Todd shook his head and walked out of the cabin when he realized who it was. The screen door slammed shut behind him. "First comes merger, then comes marriage, then comes the future CEO of Chambers Enterprises with a baby carriage."

"Fuck off, Cappie," Evan said easily. It wasn't like Evan couldn't get his own date if he wanted. He dated a bunch of girls already -- one for six months even, and her parents were richer than Evan's so it wasn't like it had been a prestige thing. But it was hard to meet up with the girls' camp without sneaking out like _some_ people did every other night, especially since only the oldest campers were given mixer privileges. Evan wasn't about to turn down opportunity when it was staring him right in the face.

Cappie jumped from his bunk and landed two feet in front of Evan. "No, seriously, I understand how important it is to make connections."

"And what would you know about that?" Evan asked. Cappie wasn't even a camper really; his parents were co-directors of Camp Kichiwawa and he didn't have any choice about where he got to spend his summers, so he always wound up in the bunks with the other guys his age. Luckily enough for Evan, that included him.

"Hey, I've seen _Wall Street_," Cappie said. "Greed is good! It's all who you know, not what you know! I'm sure in fifteen years you'll be rolling around naked in piles of hundred dollar bills all because of your father's connections."

"I think that's _Indecent Proposal_," Evan said.

Cappie shrugged. "Whatever. All I know is you got an arranged date, just like your arranged friends, and your arranged life, and even your arranged trunk filled with your arranged shirts, shorts, and socks. Which you didn't arrange yourself, right?"

Evan narrowed his eyes. Cappie sort of had a point, but it was unfair anyway. Most of the guys at Kichiwawa were almost as well-off as Evan was, and it was always a big game to see who could impress who. He didn't really know why Cappie always picked on him in particular, but he always had the whole time Evan had known him.

"Come on," Cappie said, slinging an arm around Evan's shoulders. "I don't mean anything by it, Evvy-baby. I just think you need to live a little. Are you going to hide in your dad's shadow until he dies? Or until you do?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Evan said, but it sounded weak. He didn't even shake Cappie off. "It's just-- it's not that easy, okay?"

"Of course it is," Cappie said. "You make a choice to do the unexpected and you do it. _Easy_."

"Easy for you, you mean. Your life is different from mine. I mean, your parents want us to find our inner selves and learn macramé. They named the cabins after Beat Poets. And it wasn't _my_ parents who called me --"

"Hey!" Cappie interrupted. "We never say the real name out loud."

Evan laughed. "What, like Voldemort?"

"Is that the kid in Ginsberg Bunk with the overbite?"

"No," Evan said, rolling his eyes. "But come on, Cappie -- you and me, we're different. I can't just blow off my date and do the unexpected, or I'm going to spend my ten months at home hearing all about how _disappointed_ my parents are in me, and why can't I be more like my older brother, Patrick, who's so _perfect_, and --"

Cappie shook his head. "Don't blow your date off. Just do something unexpected." He ruffled Evan's hair. "Surprise me."

+

**Now (Again)**

And that was how Evan wound up stuck up in the shaky, crepe paper covered scaffolding in Kichiwawa's amphitheater. Everyone seemed to be having a good time from where he was looking, even if they were kind of far away. Evan's date, Alicia, was sweet and pretty and wore a pretty blue dress that brought out her eyes. It really said something about Evan's insanity considering he was planning on pulling a prank to impress _Cappie_ instead of down there trying to impress her instead.

"Stupid," he said to himself. All he had to do was push over the bucket as soon as a couple of people danced underneath him, and things would go all _Carrie_, covered in fake blood and then he could sneak back down the way he came while the chaos erupted below. The unexpected would be fulfilled and Cappie would shut up about Evan never taking any chances.

So why couldn't he just do it? Maybe because even when trying to come up with the unexpected the best thing Evan could come up with was stealing off old Stephen King movies. Maybe because Evan didn't really want to go through with it. Seriously, what did it really matter what Cappie thought of him anyway?

"This is dumb," Evan muttered.

He had just about made up his mind not to go through with it when someone danced right into the scaffolding and it started swaying dangerously. Evan grabbed onto the railing and the bucket tipped over from its spot on the ledge, spilling its contents onto the campers below. Girls started shrieking and guys shouted, and everyone looked up to see Evan peering miserably over the edge.

So stupid.

+

Evan had never been inside the camp directors' offices. There were Grateful Dead posters on the walls, and plants in hangers dangling from the ceiling. Little woven rugs with rainbow designs littered the floor and everything smelled vaguely like patchouli. Nothing about the rooms was particularly intimidating, and Evan was pretty sure if he'd seen them under any other circumstances he'd have made fun of them out loud while secretly kind of liking them.

Now, though, he didn't know what was going to happen and the lingering smell of incense was choking him on the inside. Cappie's parents had left him alone in the room for awhile, right after two of the counselors made Evan come down from his scaffold and escorted him out of the dance, right past Alicia, whose hair and dress had been unfortunately splattered with corn syrup. He felt like a complete ass and he didn't know how he'd ever make it up to her. Even if it would have been easy to blame everything on Cappie, the plan hadn't been his idea, and Cappie hadn't been the one to leave the bucket unattended when Evan decided not to go through with it.

Cappie's parents came back inside, and both sat behind their side-by-side desks wearing matching disappointed expressions. Evan sunk lower in his chair, like if he could just get low enough, he'd disappear completely.

"Evan," Cappie's mother started, "how many summers have you been coming to Camp Kichiwawa?"

"This is my fifth year," Evan mumbled.

"Five years, and you've never given us any trouble," she said. "I just don't understand what brought this on; honestly, Cappie's told us so much about you and what happened tonight doesn't seem like you at all."

Evan looked up in surprise. Mostly he thought Cappie didn't realize Evan existed when he wasn't tormenting him.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Cappie's dad asked. Evan had some idea -- getting banned from camp, jail time, torture. "We're going to have to call your father."

Or something even worse.

Just then, the door to the offices banged open. Cappie's parents both looked up as Evan swiveled around in his chair. Cappie was standing in the doorframe, looking wild-eyed and his hair sticking in six directions.

"Stop the trial!" he demanded. "I demand satisfaction!"

"There's no trial, honey," Cappie's mom sighed. "Can this wait?"

Cappie shook his head and sat down in the chair next to Evan's. "No. You need to know something about why Chambers did what he did." He leaned in towards Evan and whispered, "Nice one, by the way. Much love for _Carrie_. 'They're all gonna laugh at you!'"

"Shut up, Cap," Evan whispered back. "Go back to the bunks."

"Not until I say this." Cappie sat up straight in his chair. "Mom, Dad, this wasn't just Evan's idea. We came up with it together, so whatever you're going to do to him, you have to do to me, too."

"They were going to call my dad," Evan said.

Cappie looked from his own father to Evan and then back again. "Well, you definitely can't do that, right, Dad?"

Cappie's dad looked resigned and amused, which Evan figured was a look he wore pretty often, having Cappie for a son and all. "No, I guess not," he said. "If it really was both of you, then you both have kitchen duty for three weeks and a seven o'clock curfew for two weeks, starting tomorrow."

"We also expect you to use your arts and crafts period to write an essay outlining why camp privileges are privileges, not rights, and how pranks ruin things for everyone," Cappie's mom continued. "And Evan, if I were you, I'd personally apologize to that sweet girl I saw you with. She seemed pretty upset when we left."

Evan gulped. "Yes, ma'am."

"Okay, you two," Cappie's dad sighed. "Get back to your bunks for lights out, and don't let me find you in here again. It's your last summer!"

Evan scrambled up and out so fast he almost missed Cappie thanking his parents as they left.

+

"Chambers! Chambers, wait up," Cappie said, rushing after Evan a few minutes later. "Evan, _stop_," he said, grabbing Evan's arm and whirling him around.

Evan screwed up his face and looked down at his shoes. "Sorry," he said. "Thanks for the save back there."

Cappie shrugged. "If I hadn't given you a hard time, you wouldn't have done anything. I look out for my friends, okay? Don't forget that."

"Is that what we are?" Evan said. He let out a short laugh. "I thought all my friends were arranged."

"Well, now we've shared a bonding experience." Cappie walked a few feet away and crouched, beckoning Evan over. "Welcome to bonding experience number two."

Evan blinked. "We're gonna shit in the woods?"

Cappie reached into a nearby tree. "I usually save that for third dates." He pulled out a six-pack of beer from inside. "No, I thought we could reward ourselves for surviving the experience with no phone calls to Chambers' patriarchs at all. Just promise you won't tell anyone about my hiding space."

Evan sat down on the ground and took a can. "I swear," he said, clinking his beer against Cappie's.

+

"I don't like warm beer," Evan said forty-five minutes later.

"You liked it enough to steal one of mine," Cappie said. "Seriously, Chambers, four beers just isn't fair when there are only six to start with."

Evan waved vaguely. "I'll make it up to you someday," he said. The words felt all funny coming out of his mouth and his tongue felt too big. He stuck it out. "'Oes mah ung 'ook fat?"

"It's a svelte tongue, Evs. No worries," Cappie said, sounding amused.

"Good." Evan slumped against the beer tree happily. "Thanks for getting punished with me. My dad is a jerk."

"Yeah, I got that," Cappie said. "Least I could do."

Evan put his head on Cappie's shoulder. "You're my first real friend," he said. "I have friends, you know? But you were right about them; they're all jerks like my dad. No one actually likes me."

Cappie nodded. "No one here really likes me either," Cappie said. "I'm fine at home, but it's different here. Too many rich kids having rich kid problems."

"Sorry," Evan mumbled.

"Didn't mean you, man," Cappie said, patting Evan's knee. "I already knew you were different. I'm building character."

Evan closed his eyes. "Mine or yours?"

"Does it matter?"

"Nah."

+

The rest of the summer breezed by, even the punishment part. Alicia eventually accepted Evan's apology, and Cappie and Evan were joined at the hip for the next six weeks. Plus, Evan learned the valuable lesson that it wasn't so much that he couldn't cause trouble at camp, he just couldn't get _caught_. It was probably the best summer of his life.

"Thanks for making me finally appreciate this place," Evan said on the last day. He and Cappie exchanged a manly, one-armed hug, complete with chest bump. "Too bad it had to be during our last summer."

"Yeah," Cappie said. "Speaking of, what Ivy League is Evan Chambers headed to next year?"

Evan shrugged. "None, if you can believe it. My parents donated a crapload of money to Cyprus-Rhodes in Ohio, and I think I want to go. I mean, probably."

"Ohio?" Cappie said. He looked thoughtful. "Ohio sounds okay."


End file.
